According to its owners, Sudbury's travel and tourism company, Lure of the North, is unique in Canada.
Husband and wife Dave and Kielyn Marrone started the business in 2011 to give visitors a chance to explore Northern Ontario's natural winter landscape in the traditional fashion perfected by North America's First Nations – with snowshoes to walk on the snow and ice, and toboggans to carry hundreds of pounds of gear, including a wood stove and canvas tents.
No one else in Canada, they say, does winter travel in quite the same way.
Lure of the North's reliance on traditional methods and winter gear was not borne out of a nostalgic preference for the past, nor was it chosen for aesthetic reasons.
“We just wanted to travel comfortably in the winter,” Dave said. “We started totally modern, and it was okay, but I always found it felt like a process of breaking down. Gear would break down and we wouldn't repair it because we were too cold.”
As it turned out, technologies that predated the European presence in North America were better suited for the Northern winter wilderness than their modern variants.
Traditional wooden snowshoes, for example, are far more efficient on deep soft snow than the smaller modern versions, which were made for alpine environments or packed in icy trails where a solid grip is more important than a large surface area.
But in Northern Ontario's forests, size matters, Dave said.
Winter moccasins, which the couple manufacture and sell, have also proven to keep participants' feet warmer than expensive winter boots.
But in some cases, old technologies are updated with modern materials to draw benefits from timeless designs and technological advances.
The couple's toboggans, for example, have the same basic shape as those used hundreds of years ago, but are made of ultra-light polyethylene.
After the Marrones graduated from Laurentian University's Outdoor Adventure Leadership program – Dave received his diploma in 2010 and Kielyn finished the program in 2009 – they were happy to work for other outdoor adventure companies so they could spend as much time as possible leading expeditions, rather than working behind desks.
But after reading a book called A Snow Walker's Companion – written by outdoor adventurers Garrett and Alexandra Conover – they became intrigued by the possibilities traditional winter travel could offer.
To put their newfound knowledge to the test they went on a 40-day winter expedition in 2010. Together, they carried 500 lbs. of equipment on two toboggans, and trekked 250 kilometres by snowshoe.
“That was really when we made a lot of realizations that this was a comfortable way to travel,” Kielyn said.
The next year, the couple with a passion for the outdoors became entrepreneurs, and started Lure of the North because no one else offered the kind of travel experience they wanted to share with others.
In addition to leading a half-dozen expeditions each year, the Marrones also sell traditional winter travel gear they make themselves – such as moccasins and traditional winter coats called anoraks.
Their online store also carries snowshoes – made with traditional frames and modern weaving materials – and a variety of outdoor travel products from manufacturers in the United States and Canada.
Before the winter travel season, they also teach workshops that give their customers the skills they'll need to build or repair their own traditional clothing and equipment.
The expeditions last anywhere from three days to 13, and can accommodate up to eight participants – not counting the Marrones.
In 2013, they did a pre-season expedition, five during the winter and one after the main season.
For next season, they plan to have an expedition in northern Quebec, in addition to a number of excursions around Northern Ontario.
The couple plans to expand from a location on Sudbury's Lourdes Street – in a residential neighbourhood – to a 40-acre remote property west of Espanola.
The new property will only be accessible by boat in the summer or snowmobile in the winter.
“Getting into the property will be part of the experience,” Dave said. “For us, living in a remote property like that will just mean our guiding and nature interpretation skills will be so much better.”
The larger property will also allow the Marrones to build pre-trip guest accommodations.
Many of their guests have come from Europe and the United States, and Dave said their small property on Lourdes Street has complicated the workshop and trip planning stage.
While they have learned a lot about operating a business in the last few years, Dave said he and Kielyn want to keep leading expeditions, and could see themselves eventually hiring employees to handle Lure of the North's store and manufacturing business.
But for now, things are going well for the small company.
“We've been very happy with the growth and the interest,” Dave said. “It continues to grow exponentially every year.”
